Is Hewlett-Packard prepping one more fire sale for its TouchPad tablet? According to an internal memo leaked by TechCrunch earlier this week, shoppers will have a chance to get their hands on a discounted TouchPad starting tonight at 7pm Eastern.

The tablets will be refurbished, meaning they were returned (sometimes unopened), part of a cancelled order, or demo units. But the devices will be available for $99 for the 16GB and $149 for the 32GB, down from $499 and $599, respectively.

The sale will reportedly go down via HP's eBay store, under laptops, and HP employees will get first dibs. There will be a "short delay between when the product is posted live for sale on eBay and when the general public is notified of the sale," the memo said.

Buyers will be limited to two HP TouchPads and it's first-come, first-served until supplies run out. You must log on to eBay to complete a purchase and pay via PayPal, so make sure you have eBay and PayPal accounts set up before the sale begins.

There will also be a three-piece accessory bundle with a case, charging dock, and wireless keyboard for $79, down from $200.

HP has not confirmed the TouchPad sale. A HP spokeswoman re-tweeted the link to HP's eBay store on Friday and encouraged everyone to "have a nice weekend," but there has been no official mention of the sale from the company.

The memo, meanwhile, said the general public would be informed of the sale on Monday, but given the fact that the sale details have been leaked, it's best to check the HP eBay store around 7pm tonight and see if anything has appeared.

The HP TouchPad was a well-received, webOS-based tablet, but it couldn't compete with the iPad. If you had $600 to spend on a tablet, Apple's offering was the clear winner. As a result, HP said in August that it would end support for webOS-based devices, including the TouchPad, and the fire sales began: $99 for the 16GB and $149 for the 32GB. At those prices, the TouchPad was a steal, and suddenly, HP had the demand it was looking for, but for all the wrong reasons.

Earlier this month, the TouchPad Go, a never-released variant of the TouchPad, made an unofficial appearance on eBay.

Overall, HP has had a rather disruptive few months. In August, the company also announced that it would ditch its PC business, but when Meg Whitman stepped in as CEO shortly thereafter, she announced that HP would retain the PC business after all. Last week, meanwhile, HP also decided to open-source webOS rather than sell to the highest bidder. While Whitman initially said the TouchPad was dead, and that HP would focus on Windows 8-based tablets, she told TechCrunch that a webOS-based tablet could make an appearance in 2013, so stay tuned. For more, see HP Makes WebOS Immortal.

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from American University...
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